Science and Technology at the Department of Homeland Security

June 26, 2003

Summary

The job of securing the nation will rely heavily on technology, and the prerequisite basic and applied science. The task is enormous, requiring new techniques and driving us to discover and reapply existing technologies. The work will span numerous disciplines, from biology to chaos theory, as well as every part of our nation's infrastructure. The agency charged with this challenge, the Department of Homeland Security, has designated its Directorate of Science and Technology to take on the daunting task of coordinating and providing the many S&T needs of the Department and the nation. This briefing described how the Directorate is progressing from experts at the Department, in Congress, and in the academic community.

Featured Speakers

Genevieve Knezo, moderating Congressional Research Service

Ms. Knezo is senior-level specialist in science and technology policy at the Science Policy Division of the Congressional Research Service. Ms. Knezo has served at the CRS since 1967. She is the author of numerous CRS reports, focusing on various issues in federal R&D policy. Recently, her work for Congress has expanded to include science and technology issues related to homeland security. Ms. Knezo received a degree in Political Science from Douglass College, Rutgers University, where she was selected as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an MA degree in Science, Technology, and Public Policy from George Washington University. She is also a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces of the National Defense University.

Dr. McCarthy is currently serving as the Acting Director of Research and Development in the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security. She is on detail from the Department of Energy, where she has served as the chief scientists for the National Nuclear Security Administration since 2000. She also served as a DOE representative to the Homeland Security Transition Planning Office where she advised senior administration officials on the development of the S&T Directorate. At NNSA, Dr. McCarthy chaired the DOE Counterterrorism/Homeland Security Council and served as the program coordinator for national and homeland security programs at DOE/NNSA national laboratories. While at DOE, she has also been involved in international counterterrorism and nonproliferation cooperation. Dr. McCarthy began her government career at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where she worked as a senior staff scientist. She became the first AAAS Defense Policy Fellow in 1997, and served as a technical advisor to the Secretary of Defense and the Undersecretary for Acquisition and Technology. Dr. McCarthy graduated from Boston College with a degree in Chemistry and received a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Colorado.

Mr. Bonvillian is a Legislative Director and Chief Counsel to Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT). Prior to joining the Senator's office in 1989, Mr. Bonvillian served as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of Congressional Affairs for the Department of Transportation. During that tenure he received two Outstanding Achievement Awards. His law background includes partnerships in the law firms Jenner & Block and Brown Roady, and serving as an attorney with Steptoe & Johnson.Mr. Bonvillian graduated with a B.A. from Columbia University in 1969 and received his M.A.R. from Yale University. He went on to earn a J.D. from Columbia Law School, subsequently being admitted to the Connecticut, DC, and U.S. Supreme Court Bars.

Dr. O'Hanlon is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, specializing in a variety of national security areas including U.S. defense strategy and budgets, military technology, Homeland security, Iraq policy, and missile defense. Dr. O'Hanlon received his bachelor's degree in physics from Princeton University, where he returned for graduate studies in public policy, receiving his PhD in 1991. From 1989-1994 he worked in the national security division of the Congressional Budget Office where he was a defense and foreign policy analyst. In 1994, Dr. O'Hanlon joined Brookings, and has served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs since 1996.